Trying to couple client server might seem like a good idea, but you are always left guessing as to how the component got in the state it is in, which defeats a lot of the stateless ideas and puts us in a bad place debugging. Express is a good idea, React is a good idea, NextJs and the like make the developers guess until they get burned enough and then by that time a new concept like hooks vs class components comes to popularity and you start the process of learning where the new pit traps are located, until the next big shakeup.